Atlas Shrugged Part 2 Set For Production And Election Season Release

It seemed like an optimistic joke when the producers of Atlas Shrugged: Part 1, last year's on-the-cheap adaptation of Ayn Rand's enormous bestseller, announced their plans to Part 2, to finish out the epic tale with bad acting, worse special effects and plenty of critical derision. But in a way Rand might admire, they're determined to finish the job-- in the teaser trailer you can watch below, Atlas Shrugged: Part 2 is teased with a lot of footage of real-life political hacks talking about Ayn Rand. Because the movie hasn't yet gone into production, there's no actual footage to speak of, but check out the teaser below to get a sense of where things are headed.

In an e-mail to THR, a spokesman for the production said they're planning an October release date this year, "amidst what is sure to be a fever-pitched presidential election season." Given that the previous film opened on April 15, Tax Day, amid the rising anti-tax Tea party movement, it's no surprise they've chosen another politically charged date. But it's unclear how Rand's ideas might fit in with what looks to be the narrative of the upcoming election, in which people are more concerned with bolstering the poor and middle class against the elite 1%; Rand, with her support of individual pursuits of greatness, would probably insist the 1% had earned everything and deserve to be left alone.

Apparently the second half of Atlas Shrugged will have a completely new cast and crew, meaning you can't look forward to more wooden performances from Taylor Schilling, Grant Bowler, or anybody else. In fact it's hard to know what to expect-- and in a year that seems to be full of tentpoles selling us exactly what we know we're getting, maybe that's kind of exciting.